SA Govt takes on junk food advertising

The South Australian Government wants to ban junk food advertising during children's peak television viewing times. (File photo)

AFP

The South Australian Government is planning to ban junk food advertising in children's viewing times, saying it has received legal advice that it is possible to enforce the ban at the state level.

South Australian Health Minister John Hill says the Government will implement a voluntary ban first, but if that does not curb the number of advertisements, then it will legislate.

Mr Hill says banning the advertising of soft drinks and foods high in fat, sugar or salt during peak children's viewing times, is only one piece in the puzzle in the Government's battle against obesity.

"We believe strongly that the incidence of advertising junk food during the times which children watch television has an impact on children, and as a Government we are concerned about the health of children," he said.

"We know that one in five kids at the age of four are overweight or obese and as kids get older, the proportion who are overweight or obese is increasing as well.

"We as a community need to do something about that. As a Government we are doing a whole range of things, including making sure that school canteens provide healthy food for children to eat at lunch."

Legal action

Doing all these things are difficult enough to do, but when there is a barrage of television advertising occurring at the same time which kids are subjected to, it is really trying to do these things with one arm tied behind our backs.

Mr Hill says the State Government has the legal ability to find practical solutions, despite the constant streaming of advertisements on network television.

"We have taken advice from our legal officers who believe that we have the power within South Australia to legislate in this area," he said.

"The Commonwealth has potentially that power, but it is not a power they have chosen to exercise, so at the moment we would have the power.

"But our first preference is to get an outcome on a voluntary basis. We would like to see it on a national basis. I think that would be our first priority.

"Failing that, we would work with the networks and with the advertisers and the people who make the products to see if we can come up with some sort of solution."

The ban follows moves by the British Government to stop junk food advertising during children's' programming from next year and it has the support of experts such as Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital senior nutritionist, Rita Alvaro.

"There has been a number of studies that have showed that TV food advertising can influence children's food preferences and choices and it can influence what they ask their parents to buy for them," she said.

"What we do know is that a lot of TV food ads are for foods that are high fat and high in sugar."

National review

Children's television standards are under national review, with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) releasing a new draft code by the middle of this year.

The Australian advertising industry is also conducting its own separate review into its voluntary Advertising to Children code.

It is no surprise that they are opposed to any restrictions, with an estimated $200 million worth of snack food advertising a year at stake.

Australian Association of National Advertisers executive director Colin Segalov says bans on junk food advertising to children are unnecessary and ultimately ineffective.

"We are very sympathetic to the concerns expressed by the Minister, but would have to say that ad bans haven't worked anywhere in the world and we can't see why they would work any better than that in South Australia," he said.

"That said, the advertising industry would like to see itself positioned as part of the solution to obesity, rather than part of the problem.

"Therefore, we are happy to talk with the Minister, or indeed any other government in Australia at any time, anywhere."

But South Australia's Flinders University Nutrition Department spokeswoman Kay Mehta, says children are especially susceptible to advertising and should be protected.

"It is the government's role to protect the health and well-being of the communities they are elected to serve, and to protect the interests of the vulnerable. Really children are vulnerable to advertising," she said.